Everyone appreciates a clever Halloween costume – it shows your creativity and sparks conversation. But every now and then, a costume misses the mark, and the conversation turns from a complimentary, "Great costume, dude!" to a baffled, "Um, what exactly are you supposed to be?"

That's never a good thing.

Fortunately, costumes gone wrong are a gold mine of comedy. Here are five of our favorite mystery costumes, with imaginary narratives about how exactly they came to be. Because who knows what these people were really thinking?

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Mystery Costumes

In "The Feminine Mystique," Betty Friedan asserts that the typical mid-'50s housewife lived a dehumanized life. In fact, in chapter 16, she discusses the effects of extreme dehumanization wherein housewives' heads would actually evolve into Godzilla heads! Okay, that's a lie. But it's a good story, and an even better costume.

Mystery Costumes

I can't tell if Jason Voorhees is dressed up as a taco, or if a taco is dressed up as Jason Voorhees. I'm also not entirely sure why he's holding a microphone instead of a chain saw (perhaps he now plans on killing… at karaoke?!). Regardless, this is
shaping up to be the best "Friday the 13th" sequel yet!

Mystery Costumes

The annual grocery pageant may be grueling, but Ruth had what it took. She placed first in the formal bag-wear walk; she dominated in the bag-kini round; she aced the all-important interview question, "Paper or plastic?" And all her hard work paid off: Ruth is now Miss Grocery 2010, representing Stop'n'Shops all across America.

Mystery Costumes

Man: I'd like my Halloween costume to be high-minded.

Woman: How about covering yourself in panels of orange vinyl a la Christo and Jeanne-Claude's famed NYC art installation "The Gates"?

Man: But I also want it to be sexy.

Woman: Then don't wear any pants.

Man: Sold!

Mystery Costumes

Scuba mask? Shower curtain? Drain hardware? Bubble wrap? Antenna? This is starting to look less like a Halloween costume and more like an innovative showering experiment that's gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Mystery Costumes